The Mitsubishi Mirage Is Dead After 11-Year Run

You’ll still find the 2024 Mitsubishi Mirage ($17,840 base price!) on the Japanese automaker’s U.S. website today, but the super-cheap compact car is coming off the catalog for 2025. That makes the Nissan Versa the last new car you can buy in America with a sub-$20,000 starting list price.

Mitsubishi spokesperson Jeremy Barnes confirmed the Mirage’s end of watch to Car and Driver with the following statement: “Mirage is being discontinued in the U.S. market, and there will not be a 2025 model. Production will cease late this year, and we expect to have sufficient dealer stock to last into the summer of 2025.”

The 2024 Mirage comes in five trim levels, including a Ralliart one with a cute graphics kit I’ve never seen in the wild, and ranges from $16,695 to $18,895 before adding destination charges and other dealer fees. Prices include a generous 10-year/100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty, five years of unlimited roadside assistance, and a two-year/30,000-mile maintenance plan of three oil changes, three tire rotations, and one cabin filter.

The Mirage claimed 39 mpg in combined driving. The other specs read like something from the early ’90s: 15-inch wheels, 1.2-liter engine, 2,084-pound curb weight. It has 78 horsepower and 74 lb-ft of torque. Heck, if you could still get this with a stick instead of a CVT I’d have half a mind to go buy one to be my next race car.

It’s not a car that too many people besides Jason Torchinksy will remember with much fondness, but the end of its run does feel like another sign of the times. What I mean is that companies only want to sell things they can make a lot of money on, and good deals for consumers are rapidly dwindling. Low-option cars are low-margin, and frankly, I’m surprised the Mirage lasted as long as it did.

A 2024 Nissan Versa lists out at pretty much the same price, $17,820 with destination fees, and will now be the only new-car option under $20,000 in America for however long it remains on the market.